The Contract
by Inu Eve
Summary: Because there simply isn't enough fanfiction for such an awesome Manhwa. What if Shark had injured M-21 more than he could heal from on his own and Raizel made him the offer of a contract? Eventual Slash planned, but this isn't really a romance story.
1. Chapter 1

As Shark turned towards the children again, M-21 felt too weak and tired to even frown, yet his will was strong enough to push him to his feet. When finally Shark

struck the fatal blow, though he had expected to be attacked, M-21 still felt surprise widen his eyes in shock as his hands futilely grabbed at Shark's wrists as though to

remove the blade from his chest. Finally, he felt the blade leave only for a sudden sharp pain in his shoulder to appear as Shark followed him down, pinning him to the

concrete with a knife through the shoulder. Thankfully, the blood-loss made him fuzzy and the pain all seemed to blur together into a vague sensation of

unpleasantness, but the forceful collision with concrete startled him. It helped keep him awake and aware enough for a while. He didn't want to give in until the kids are

safe.

When Tao announced an entrance, his relief manifests in weak laughter and he greets Rai with an admonition that doesn't hide his relief as he fades into

unconsciousness.

His next realization was that he was surrounded by light. That he's dying. It isn't as bad a realization as he would have thought—he's not in pain, the children are

safe, and he had mattered as more than a failed experiment even if he hadn't been able to save the children himself. Suddenly, he becomes aware of someone in the

light coming closer. They're hard to make out, and it wasn't until the figure came closer that he noticed the Ye Ran school uniform and black hair—Rai. Soon he has come

close enough that M-21 could see his lips moving, but there's no noise. Rai spoke again, and now he could hear a quiet murmuring that is, nonetheless, too quiet for

him to make out. Rai frowned at his incomprehension and was suddenly so close to him that M-21 imagined he could feel the delicate heat of the other man's body.

"Open your eyes," the noble commanded, and there's power in that voice, in the order—M-21 can suddenly feel the connection to his body, but though the whiteness

suddenly seemed to surge it didn't leave. "Sorry," he murmurs as nothing more happens.

He continued to frown and then placed a hand on M-21's shoulder; he feels it in a ghostly way though he knows that his physical body isn't being touched in the

same way, and it feels good. Aside from M-24, no one at the Union had been interested in touching him without violence or for experimentation, and even though the

kids seemed willing to include him in most things they didn't know about him. Rai knew. Sometimes he had looked into those red eyes and felt as though they knew

everything about him, but the thought was frightening so he had ignored it. It wasn't so frightening when the man was willing to touch him kindly like this, though. The

hand moved to his face and his eyes opened. He was suddenly aware that he had begun to drift off—begun to finally go wherever the dead went—and the thought

was less frightening than it should be.

"Do you wish to live?"

Gray eyes flashed to look into red in surprise then slid into thought. Did he want to live? Dying like this, after helping to keep the kids safe and living a normal life for

a little while wasn't bad at all. Maybe he could see his comrades again, but what about their names? It was his duty to find their names now, and… A thought tugged at

his mind—would the children miss him? Would they be told that he had died, or would they simply think he had left without a word?

"I—Yes." He responded, and the answer tore at a part of him—dying wasn't so peaceful now. He didn't want to go.

Red eyes regarded him calmly, that same knowing gaze saying he understood more than a simple word would say, "Then you will live, but you will be bound to me

for a time by contract."

He waited a moment as M-21 took this in, "Awakening your power as I did before would kill you."

"What will happen to me?" He had thought they had entered into a contract before, but it seemed he didn't know much about them. 'Just like everything else I

thought I knew that the Union told me.'

"You will need to remain in close proximity to me for several days until the bond settles, but each person is somewhat different and considering your power there

may be greater differences."

'Whatever happens, it can't be worse than going back to the labs and I can work past it. I'll survive and find our names.' "I agree." He stated strongly even as he

fought against the fading again.


	2. Chapter 2

**Noblesse is not mine, I simply exert my will upon the characters.**

The next time M-21 awoke, he was settled in a comfortable, almost familiar bed. Training and caution kept his eyes closed as he kept his breathing even and sought out sounds that might tell him what his situation was.

Who was with him.

There was someone breathing to his left, the sound regular and deep, which indicated sleep. To his right he could barely make out an only slightly familiar voice—there must have been a wall between himself and them. The room smelled sterile despite the presence of two men—he could vaguely smell the other—who had apparently been injured, and he couldn't sort out the specifics of what the rest of the scents were.

After deeming it safe to open his eyes he did so to be confronted by the sight of a plain, white ceiling. Turning his head allowed him to make out, even in the dimness of the room, the yellow-lined black walls of one of the unoccupied rooms at Frankenstein's house.

Tentatively, he sat up and looked down at his torso, vaguely surprised to find clean bandages yet almost no soreness even as he twisted his torso as a test. With even more care, he unwound the bandage from his stomach, only to be confronted by smooth, healed skin. His next action was to remove the bandage from his shoulder, only to find the same thing—smooth, unblemished skin where there should still have been some sort of mark. However, his twist to look at his shoulder wound brought the sleeper on his left into view.

It was DA-5's Takeo. Why he would be there was undoubtedly confusing, and when M-21 thought back, he could remember that Takeo had left the building before the fighting had started. Considering he was covered in little white bandages seemed to indicate he had run into trouble after leaving.

None of that explained why he was there in Frankenstein's house sleeping in the same room as M-21.

Sighing he slipped out of the bed, grateful that he was already wearing pants. The room he was in had a small bathroom inside like he thought would be in a hotel, and he was grateful for the mirror that allowed him to see the small bandages he had missed on his face. After changing his clothes to what he found in one pile—probably left there precisely for when he and Takeo woke up considering one of the piles must have been Takeo's before considering the scent—he slipped out of the room as silently as possible.

The main room was unoccupied though he could hear someone moving about in the kitchen. He guessed that the children's memories had already been erased and their wounds tended if he had apparently slept for… He looked over to the clock and saw that he had apparently slept through the night and into the early afternoon.

The voice in the kitchen started to hum, and M-21 realized that whoever was in the kitchen wasn't Frankenstein, Rai, one of the Nobles, or even one of the children—as unlikely as them being there alone would be. Stepping back into the hallway he had just exited, M-21 dropped low, crouching to listen intently. A little more time and he could place the voice to a face. Tao.

Yet another person who didn't seem to have any real reason to be there.

M-21 breathed in, taking in the scents from the room, smirking as he realized that the hacker had made himself what smelled like popcorn and a glass of some carbonated beverage. When the sound of Tao's footsteps told M-21 that the hacker had entered the living room, M-21 considered attacking while his hands were full, only to almost immediately pull himself out of his readied crouch.

What would Frankenstein do to him if he caused the hacker to drop his treats onto the floor? The wolf's blood seemed to leave his face as another thought took precedence, what would happen if he got into a fight with Tao and ended up destroying something? He'd seen how his boss had reacted to crumbs, so what if they left holes in his floor, his ceiling..?

Shivering, M-21 stood up abruptly, carefully taking a casual stance that showed his hands were not transformed and he had no weapon. Walking normally, he left the hallway and entered the room. "Why are you here?"

Tao thankfully didn't respond to his question by spitting out his soda or flinging popcorn into the air, but M-21 was still annoyed that the only reaction to his appearance was an enormous smile from the hacker.

"You're awake! Here, I was about to watch _Inception, _what do you think—subtitles or dubbing?" Shocked, M-21 could only stand there for a moment as Tao continued to grin manically at him. A moment later he found his voice, "Does it matter?"

"Of course!" Tao exclaims in horror that M-21 can't be sure is feigned. "Listening to it in the original English is more realistic, but then we have to read the subtitles while watching. Then, having Korean dubbing means we don't have to read subtitles but sometimes the dubbing can be really bad!" The explanation was accompanied by the occasional flail of limbs, and M-21 reluctantly moved forward to sit on the couch with a fair amount of space between himself and the surprisingly cheerful hacker.

"I haven't watched a lot of movies, so I don't really know." He finally responded reluctantly.

"Oooh, a movie-virgin!" That brought a blush to M-21's face as he opened his mouth to deny it but was quickly cut off. "We'll do dubbed and subtitles then so we don't miss anything."

That said, the hacker quickly left the couch to begin poking and prodding at something connected to the tv. The screen abruptly turned a brilliant shade of blue before advertisements for other Western movies began. Mission accomplished, Tao plopped himself back onto the couch—closer to M-21 this time, though still far enough away that he could get out of the way of an attack—and placed the popcorn between them. His soda ended up clenched between both hands as his eyes glued themselves to the screen.

Worriedly, M-21's gaze flickered to the soda then Tao and back again before finally pulling himself together to say something. "Make sure you don't spill."

"Mmhm," Tao murmured distractedly.

"I mean it, the homeowner hates mess." That seems to startle Tao out of his trance for a moment considering he turned to look at the wolf then nodded and carefully scooted farther to the side so he could set the glass on a coaster resting on a small end table.

The rest of the movie passed surprisingly normally. Tao would occasionally 'ooh,' and 'ahh,' but M-21 remained silent aside from the occasional comment which Tao elaborated on with enthusiasm. By the end of the movie, the two were fairly comfortable with each other's presence. Of course, it helped that Tao had eventually confessed that Frankenstein had told him to come after grabbing Takeo and the kids had already been taken care of.

When M-21 looked up at the clock to find the school day had just ended, he found his eyes continually drawn to the door whereas Tao became immersed in yet another movie. Unable to concentrate, M-21 finally slipped off the couch in a single smooth movement and stalked over to the kitchen. Opening the fridge, he tried to distract himself from the time by looking for something appealing, but nothing looked good aside from some pork chops marinating in the back of the fridge. There was no way M-21 would risk Frankenstein's wrath by eating those without permission.

When the door finally opened, M-21 made quick strides out of the kitchen with a strange hope racing through him. He dimly knew that he was waiting for someone in particular, but it wasn't until he saw the entrant that he knew who. It was Rai who appeared, and M-21 couldn't seem to tear his gaze away from him even when Tao nervously greeted the noble from his position on the couch.

Suddenly, red met grey and M-21 froze as the other moved towards him, touching him lightly on the shoulder as a signal to follow as Raizel glided down the hall and into an empty room—M-21 followed without hesitation.


	3. Chapter 3

**Warnings: Potential slash in later chapters, as well as violence**

**Noblesse is not mine, I simply exert my will upon the characters.**

**Includes some dialogue that is straight or almost straight from the series—I own nothing.**

M-21 passed through the hall in a daze, only barely noticing when Mas-Raizel—what was he about to say?—came to a halt and the door swung closed behind them. When those red eyes came to rest on his grey ones, M-21's whole body seemed to shake.

His mind was in disorder.

Suddenly there were so many thoughts of what he should do—_Get closer. But he doesn't like that. Touch him. No, no touching. Please, please, just closer. Too far—too near!_

As though he sensed M-21's panic, Raizel's eyes seemed to soften and he sat gracefully on the edge of the room's solitary bed, "Come here, M-21."

That was all the permission he needed, and in a flash M-21 gratefully slumped to the ground by Raizel's feet. When a slim hand began to gently stroke his head, sliding through his hair, the experiment sighed. He relaxed into the touch and contentedly rested his head on the Noble's lap. Everything was okay, he wasn't alone. Raizel was his master or his leader, or… His brow furrowed as he searched for the right word only to suddenly drop the matter as important when the Noble gently caressed the side of his face; Raizel was his, and M-21 was Raizel's. That was what mattered.

In that state, there was no way for M-21 to judge how long he sat there, head in Raizel's lap like a faithful canine, and it could have been hours before the Noble suddenly began to speak just as M-21 was drifting into sleep.

"M-21." One word in that calm, patient, commanding voice and M-21 opened his eyes, slumber discarded in favor of whatever would be said. "The instincts of your heart have awakened."

When the Noble didn't continue M-21 absent-mindedly nuzzled his face against the other's thigh even as a small part of him frowned with confusion, "What do you mean?"

His heart? The phrase brought to mind the rapid beating it had undergone when he had first transformed. The organ felt as though it would jump out of his chest, and since then whenever he transformed, he felt or maybe imagined an echo of that feeling. His heart trying to beat its' way free.

"Your heart is the source of your strength." The Noble continued after a moment. "A…werewolf's heart."

"The contract is encouraging your wolf to emerge. Together the two have chosen me as your…alpha." The words seemed to come from him slowly, but M-21 didn't mind and he understood what was being said—a hundred little details freeing themselves from his subconscious to show him how he had changed—but all he could focus on was that he had a word for what Raizel was: his Alpha.

"Your power is growing more quickly than before," the Noble continued calmly, though M-21 thought the other had a certain softness that tugged at his soul. "Frankenstein will need to be informed."

Mention of the blond scientist had M-21 shift in discomfort. He appreciated what the man had done for him, but somehow he doubted Frankenstein would be pleased to have his precious Master connected to a failed experiment.

"It will be fine," the Noble answered as though reading his thoughts, "and you are not a failed experiment."

"Are you reading my mind?" M-21 asked jokingly in response. The silence that followed was deafening, but what really made the wolf agitated was how that hand stopped stroking his hair only to begin again as M-21 began to fear his question had upset the Noble.

"I am capable of connecting to anyone's mind, but the contract makes yours more… welcoming to me. It will take some adjustment before I am able to stay out of your immediate thoughts when we are close."

He didn't really want to ask but he needed to, and his head was finally beginning to clear, so he did. "Why did I—" he begins but can't find the right words to continue. What could he say: _why did I have to touch you, why do I feel so good when you stroke my head, why can't I think around you_?

When M-21 couldn't seem to settle on a single question, Raizel took over again before panic could set in, "We are sharing energy. The contract is normally used to create servants, extensions of our will through whom we can learn what they do." The soft stroking of his hair served to keep M-21 calm and remind him that he hadn't just become a slave—slaves weren't treated so gently.

"Giving the other our energy makes them stronger as well as more useful to the contractor. I only gave you enough to heal, and now that you are well both of our energies are mingling back and forth so that it is an equal exchange."

"If it's equal than why can't I get into your mind?"

"That is not where your gifts lie, thus the increase in your own power from contact with mine. You may become more attuned with my state of mind, but that will not be until the bond has settled."

M-21 sighed but also carefully kept himself from shifting so Raizel wouldn't move just yet. "So, now what happens?" He was already mostly back to his normal self, and the only reason he hadn't moved away was that his pride on this matter was already shattered after being petted for at _least_ half an hour—it also didn't help him resist when it felt so good.

"Until the bond stabilizes, we will meet like this when possible," Was all the slender man finally said in response.

"We should join the others," M-21 murmured some time later. "I can smell dinner being prepared, and Frankenstein is probably wondering where you are."

With a final stroke to gray hair Raizel stood, followed by M-21, and unlocked and opened the door with ease—a true accomplishment. When the two entered the living room, Tao was the first to greet them, grinning from his place on the couch. "I wondered where you two went! They just started making dinner a few minutes ago."

M-21 nodded to Tao and headed away from the kitchen—he could smell what they were making, a new ramen recipe from Frankenstein judging by the scent of the emerging broth. Despite how often they ate ramen, M-21 still looked forward to it, but he found himself uncertain of what to do with his remaining time. When Frankenstein came in with tea for Raizel, M-21 took the opportunity to subtly breathe in the scent of the tea and try to place what type it was. His first realization was that it had a great deal of sugar—and wasn't it strange that he knew that by scent from several seats away—and his next was that it was very light with a flowery undertone beneath all of the sweetness.

When dinner was finally served M-21 found it necessary to wait for Raizel with the rest of them before only just restraining himself from devouring his meal. Somehow, he doubted the broth-covered noodles would be enough despite their richness with how absolutely ravenous he felt, and Tao's chatter drifted into the background of his thoughts. As it was, M-21 was easily half-way through his meal before Takeo warily appeared—just as hungry as M-21 if the suppressed sounds from his stomach were to be believed.

The red-head's appearance prompted Tao to aim his chatter at the newcomer, and M-21 simply looked at the marksman before gazing back at his food with the vaguest of mournful expressions. He wasn't finished, and the idea of waiting to eat was one which his stomach heartily disapproved. When Takeo was brought his own bowl and seated at the table, M-21 went back to his own meal with relief, consciously slowing down so he didn't finish long before the rest.

Once dinner was finished, Takeo found it a prudent time to ask about the rest of the DA-5, and M-21 watched as the red-head became more and more shocked with the revelations that first Shark then Krantz had died. What shocked him most was Tao's description of how Shark had been killed and what DA-5 had been meant for, and M-21 was incredibly surprised that the red-head still meant to go back.

'A sister,' M-21 mused to himself. 'That's strange. I wouldn't think an experiment would be allowed to see a family member. We don't get that much consideration.'

In the end, M-21 was relieved that Tao succeeded in talking him out of it—as well as mildly impressed with Tao's reasoning skills.

And then Tao began speaking to him, and M-21 could only stand there in shock and hope as the hacker spoke.

"About the information you wanted, I found something before Shark called us over to the research facility."

"Ah!" The wolf gasped, in shock—he had forgotten Tao's mission in the wake of, well, everything that had happened recently.

M-21's hopes immediately plummeted when Tao revealed the information was gone. That meant no names now or apparently until he managed to become strong enough to force them out of Crombel, a man who could apparently hold up against Frankenstein in a fight. Gritting his teeth, he told himself to be patient. He was already much stronger than he used to be, and he had seen how strong he could become. He just had to keep working.

Tao and Takeo's sudden declaration of departure jolted M-21 out of his thoughts with yet another occurrence that surprised him.

He wanted them to stay.

When Tao said they'd keep everything secret, he believed him and also remembered when Frankenstein and Raizel had taken _him_ in. He hadn't been used to being valued, and as he watched them leave with no plan regarding where to go and how to earn a living. That had almost been him. It could have been him. In a way, even Tao and Takeo—new associates that they were—were his comrades, men who had fought for and been used by the Union because that was their fate as experiments.

And now they were leaving while he was living safely and comfortably with people who didn't care that he had been tossed aside as a failed experiment. Didn't they deserve the same?

His thoughts scurried about and really the decision he came to was sudden, propelled by a sense of justice and compassion he hadn't been sure existed in him.

"Wait!" At his exclamation, Tao and Takeo turned back in confusion, but M-21's attention was no longer on them but on a certain blonde homeowner.

"I have a favor to ask."

"A favor?"

The words almost stuck in his throat—Frankenstein and Raizel, especially Raizel now, had done so much for him after he had done relatively little for them—but he had to try, and he was, if nothing else, brave.

"Would you… let them stay here?"

He averted his eyes from Tao and Takeo as they looked at him in shock. "I know I have no right to ask," and what in the world _was_ his place these days, "but I can't just let them leave when they have nowhere else to go after being tossed aside like I was."

Wanting to do his best to finish his request with sincerity, the wolf looked directly into Frankenstein's own eyes, "Please."

The scientist's lips quirking upwards into a smile made M-21 stop breathing in hope, as though anything he did might disturb the moment and change the blonde's decision.

"Why are you so tense? If that's what you want, that's what'll happen."

And as this confirmation jump-started his breathing again, the next one stole it again in a blink.

"This place is your home too, after all."

'What?'

That night after everyone retired to their rooms, M-21 fought the urge to go back to Raizel so he wouldn't be alone in his room bare of anything but what he deemed essential. It hadn't bothered him before, but now the room felt like a prison keeping him from where he really wanted to be. It wasn't like the Union again, there he and M-24 had been afforded only a small room with bunks as though to remind them that they still lacked value and could easily be disposed of, but the bareness of it all was suddenly a reminder that he was transient. Frankenstein would keep him only as long as Raizel desired it—he had no ridiculous notions that the scientist actually liked him at all or desired his company—and then he would be set adrift again.

Then there was what Master—Alpha had said about his heart, how he had a werewolf's heart. What did that mean? He was human, at least mostly, despite those experiments, yet the way his hands changed—gaining sharp claws and grey fur—was not human.

A harsh smirk twisted his face as he scoffed. He hadn't been seen as human since the experiments, and now that he was away from that his body was no longer human. He had willfully abandoned his humanity in order to prove he was more than a failed experiment, and he suddenly decided he didn't want to think about it. Raizel had saved him twice now, and the loss of his humanity was simply the price he paid for his continued existence. For the ability to fulfill he and M-24's mission.

It might have been worth it just to be _treated_ as human even if he wasn't one anymore. Worth it to have the companionship Raizel now offered.

That thought brought him back around to his previous worries and the ones that continued to race around his head—he was just going to be left behind again.

A gentle rapping at his door startled him out of his thoughts—no one visited his room. Slipping off his bed, he hurried to the door and was struck with confusion at the sight of his new Mas—alpha—at his door. He even forgot to step aside and allow the noble in for a moment, and it was with uncertainty that he closed the door behind Raizel turned to face him.

Raizel's stare prompted M-21 to glance away, seeking something sufficiently interesting to justify looking at rather than meet the Noble's gaze. He absently noted that the other was wearing silky, black pajamas that must have cost a fortune and a pair of matching slippers that, while more generic, were undoubtedly soft and extremely comfortable.

"You will not be forced away by either Frankenstein or myself."

M-21 nodded, but his heart wasn't in it. He wasn't stupid enough to believe that someone with Raizel's power and a servant of Frankenstein's abilities would stick around here forever, and when the two moved on M-21 would be left behind.

Raizel moved closer and cupped M-21's chin, gently forcing the wolf to look him in the face, "I intend to stay here for as long as possible, but when the time comes to leave you will have the decision of whether to join us."

Gray eyes widened, but he forced any hope down and turned his eyes away though he did nothing to go against Raizel's grip. "You don't need to go to such lengths for me. I don't need to be babied." It was ridiculous of him to say such a thing when he wouldn't turn away from even the light touch of Raizel's fingers on his chin, but he persevered. "I appreciate that you two are letting me stay here, but I won't trouble you forever."

Raizel frowned, and when M-21's eyes caught the expression they were caught and held at the sight. The other's expression never seemed to change from a sort of calm dignity, but now there was true annoyance and M-21 couldn't understand why. He had been perfectly courteous and understanding—Raizel knew he didn't need to baby the experiment, so why was he annoyed?

The man's frown seemed to deepen as moments passed, much to M-21's growing confusion, and when both the Noble's hands cupped his face gently M-21 couldn't think anymore. "You should value yourself more," the normally stoic man stated—he was sad, M-21 suddenly realized, sad for M-21?—and guided M-21 down until Raizel could place his lips against the wolf's forehead.

Drawing away, he took one of M-21's hands and tugged his unresisting form forward. "Come and sleep. When, long minutes later, Raizel was sitting in the bed with M-21's head resting on his slightly reclined chest, the wolf still could not find the inner words to label the Noble's actions. As he calmed and began to fall into sleep with a hand carding through his hair, he vaguely wondered if this was why Frankenstein was so dedicated to his master.

**Author's Note: I know M-21 might seem rather weak or uncertain in this chapter, but I just want to clarify that I see him in canon as having a pretty low self-esteem though he's so determined, quiet, and yet aggressive that you don't really see it. At this point he doesn't think Frankenstein likes him or trusts him—a belief I don't share—and so he would certainly feel his position is far from secure. For M-21 who is used to being labeled as a failed experiment who could be terminated at any time, he's used to this insecurity and so doesn't voice it—he's already accepted it in my mind. Then, the reasoning for Raizel doing something about it now is that he can't tune it out and feels more responsible for M-21 now that they're linked. It's a combination of seeing more of it as well as feeling responsible for M-21's welfare. **

**Hope you enjoyed and this explanation wasn't too strange to you!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Warnings: Potential slash in later chapters, as well as violence**

**Noblesse is not mine, I simply exert my will upon the characters.**

**Note: Realized while writing this chapter that M-21 didn't know about his heritage before this, so there has been some editing to the previous chapter. I also realized that I skipped the scene where Takeo and Tao begin to leave but M-21 intervenes. -( I will try not to do that in the future. **

**In addition, some of the conversations in here will be either the same or very similar to the original. A lot is slightly different for a variety of reasons, but the effects of the contract still haven't spread that far.**

The next morning, M-21 woke to the beeping of his alarm clock on his right and unaccustomed warmth on his left. A single breath told him that it was Rai. The Noble had stayed.

He quickly turned off the alarm, giving a small smile of relief when he didn't detect any change in the Noble.

Carefully, he sat up in order to look down at his ma-alpha and subsequently smirked. It figured that Rai would seem elegant even in his sleep, and the Noble's expression hadn't changed much either except that it seemed looser, more relaxed than usual.

A moment later, he looked away—it was a bit creepy to watch someone sleep—and slid out of the bed to get dressed in his security uniform. He didn't like the idea of leaving Tao and Takeo alone at the house, but he was well, Frankenstein undoubtedly wanted him back at work, and it wasn't like the two would dare do anything until they had planned out their next moves and Takeo was fully-healed.

Once he had finished dressing, M-21 looked back at the bed uncertainly. He tentatively took a step before shaking his head, he was being ridiculous. That decided, he rounded the bed to Raizel's side and placed a hand on the Noble's shoulder to nudge him awake. When that didn't work, he opened his mouth, only to quickly shut it when he thought of how ridiculous it seemed to call his alpha by the name the children gave him.

The thought of calling the Noble 'Rai' made his gut clench, and calling him 'Master' was closer but that name was for Frankenstein's use. "Alpha," he tested softly to himself, but it was a word he didn't really understand. It was an important title, he knew, but that was it.

"Raizel-nim," he finally settled on, "it's time to wake up." The name caused the Noble to stir, so M-21 repeated it. Red eyes drifted open, and M-21 took a respectful step back.

Sitting up, Raizel nodded to him in that calm, distant way he always seemed to have about him, and M-21 stood awkwardly for a moment with no idea what to do. Raizel seemed like the type of rich noble that always had a servant on hand for the littlest things, and M-21 could only wonder with trepidation if he was supposed to fulfill that role. He didn't like the sound of it, even if it was for his alpha—he really needed to figure out what that meant besides 'leader.'

The moment ended as the Noble gracefully slid out from under the covers and stepped into the slippers neatly discarded near the bed.

"I must dress, but we may talk again later if you wish."

M-21's grey eyes widened in surprise, and then a rueful smirk twitched his lips as he remembered the Noble's ability. "Yeah."

Red eyes seemed to stare into him for a moment, before the Noble nodded and quietly left the room.

After that, the rest of the man's day was rather normal. Frankenstein hadn't examined him yet—he caught him briefly before leaving to tell him the examination would occur that night—and so he was still on 'sick leave.'

Instead, M-21 went into town and replaced the clothes that had been destroyed with all the fighting from before. It was still novel to have an actual income, and a fair amount at that considering he didn't pay rent, but aside from the basic necessities like clothing he hadn't had taken the opportunity to do much with it.

As he began to walk back the way he had come to enter the mall—one he had entered because he knew that a mall, at least, would have clothing inside—he found his gaze flickering over to the various window displays he passed. It was a new occurrence—he had avoided window shopping back with the Union because he didn't have the money for such things—and occasionally he would note a shirt that looked like one Frankenstein had worn, or puppies M-24 would have melted over despite putting on a gruff demeanor.

As he passed a large book shop, he hesitated in his step then came to an abrupt stop. The front window advertised 'Books about Anything and Everything,' and a current special on foreign classics such as _White Fang_, which lured him in with curiosity over why a classic would have a picture of a wolf on it.

In the end, he had questions and nothing to do but watch tv or walk about when he had down time including when he was injured—a state he suspected would occur again, especially as he continued to practice with his abilities—which meant he should find something to do, like read, the next time this happened.

Shrugging to himself, he put his free hand in his pocket as the other carried the bag with clothing and walked in.

Making his way through the shelves was also a new experience, and it took him a little while to understand how everything was arranged by genre then author—not that he had any authors to look up. Digging out his cell phone, M-21 checked the time—1:00 and nowhere to be until around 3 when the kids would likely drop by the house—and continued his wandering way.

He didn't know if he actually liked reading and, if so, what genres he would enjoy, but it was better than going back to the house where the two newcomers still were. They seemed alright, but he still wasn't sure how to handle the sudden reversal in positions—from his captors to fellow house-mates if only temporarily.

After long minutes of getting used to the store, he made a decision and turned back to the section full of 'classics' from around the world. Picking up the book that had first intrigued him, _White Fang_, he flipped through it. Overall, it sounded interesting, and he kept it in hand as he continued to wander. Not wanting to get too much, he drifted for a while longer before finding a book on wolves and opening it, curiously heading straight for the appendix and searching for a reference to 'alpha.'

In the end, he really hoped and also doubted that Raizel was his alpha in the same way that wolves had alphas, but he still decided to buy the book. Wolves themselves were interesting even if they might have nothing to do with werewolves.

After paying for his books and a plain, brown bookmark he saw on the way to the register—the young woman at the desk was uncomfortably willing to chat despite his reticence—he made his way back home and settled onto his bed to begin reading his new novel. An hour later, he was jolted out of his reading—the book was surprisingly good, and he was a bit disturbed by how much he related to the canine—by the happy voices of the children.

Half an hour later, he found himself settled between Frankenstein and Takeo on the couch as the kids began to chat with Takeo and Tao, seemingly taken with how they were all connected.

When Takeo spoke, however, M-21 couldn't help watching the red-head even as he tried to stay removed from the conversation. Takeo's honest confusion at Regis' reaction to his words prompted a suspicion in M-21's mind, however and he found himself turning towards him and putting a hand on his shoulder to get his attention.

"How did you learn Korean?"

Takeo blinked, perhaps from the sudden attention or the touch, and simply answered, "Tao taught me a while back, and I haven't had any problems until now."

With a sigh, M-21 turned his gaze to Tao who smiled guiltily at them both before turning to whisper into Takeo's ear.

The red-head remained frozen, blushing and eyes cast down for the rest of the children's' visit. He then retired to his room as soon as they had gone.

As the red-head scurried away, M-21 turned to look at Tao in question.

"He'll get over it," the hacker responded as he began to tap away on a tiny laptop he must have tucked away somewhere, "and if I go over there, he'll just get mad at me."

M-21 snorted, 'Of course he would be mad.' However, he didn't say anything, and when Frankenstein caught his eye any thought of the two new guests was wiped away by trepidation that he did his best to hide as he followed the scientist down to the lab.

"I will join you later." Raizel murmured as the wolf passed, and Frankenstein looked back at his master in confusion. M-21 simply nodded and continued on with what felt like less weight on his shoulders.

"I will prepare snacks, Master."

Raizel nodded and Frankenstein asked no questions about this change in plans. It only served to feed what M-21 had already guessed about their relationship—Frankenstein was utterly devoted.

The wolf wasn't sure if he would become that way as well, though he doubted it for his own pride, but it still struck him as incredible that someone as strong and intelligent as Frankenstein would be so devoted to a single person no matter how strong that person was.

The lab routine was normal, a few scans after some blood was taken, and M-21 was slowly acclimating to the process instead of expecting someone to come up and inject him with something strange for a new experiment. Having Frankenstein working alone helped.

As M-21 began putting his shirt back on and Frankenstein started to explain his results, they both paused as the door whooshed open and Raizel entered the room.

Frankenstein immediately rushed off to grab an elegant chair for him, then a plate of the cookies his strange, over-done machine produced. M-21 casually wandered over to grab one—despite how over-done the machine was, it made very good cookies.

Master satisfied, Frankenstein turned back to him and began his run-down of what his tests said.

"Your body has stabilized a great deal compared to when I first examined you. I was surprised to find that you had begun to heal already."

"Yeah, I thought I was going to die." M-21 carefully didn't look at Raizel when he responded, and Frankenstein didn't notice anything strange.

"I wouldn't have been surprised if you did, but your body is adjusting at—" and now Frankenstein seemed disconcerted, "an incredible pace that I had never expected."

Hesitantly, M-21 flicked a glance at Raizel—who was gracefully nibbling away on a cookie without a care in the world—then quickly returned to watching Frankenstein as the scientist continued to look at the data print-out with clear confusion.

"Is it dangerous?"

"Not so far," and Frankenstein almost looked like he would have preferred that, "which makes it even stranger."

Putting down the data, the blond adjusted his glasses and suddenly began an explanation that made M-21 wonder if the instructional booklets the scientist made for Raizel were like this—he had noticed first one and then many during his stay.

"I don't know about the rest of the M-series, but you were rather simply designed." He paused then continued as M-21 continued to listen silently, "Normally, modified humans are creating using either enhanced human traits or implants of animal characteristics. They've also started supplementing specially-produced equipment and doing transplants with various other kinds of strengthened traits, but you're different."

At that point, M-21 had a good idea of where he was going with this, but he kept quiet out of a desire to put off telling Frankenstein he knew about the heart. That would lead to saying how he knew, which would lead to Raizel telling him, which would finally lead to the contract.

He was going to put off that little revelation for as long as possible. Frankenstein was frightening when angry.

Sharp blue eyes turned to him, "Are you listening to me?"

M-21 jerked nervously and quickly affirmed, "Y-Yeah!" He really hoped that didn't seem as strange as he thought.

Frankenstein adjusted his glasses with narrowed eyes but nonetheless continued, "Instead of any of that, you were genetically modified and received a particular organ from another organism. You couldn't immediately display the powers you'd been modified with, and it's taken a rather long time for those abilities to show up with this much intensity, and I don't know why it has suddenly become so intense even with Master awakening you before."

M-21 stayed silent, but Frankenstein's gaze was fixed on him. The scientist must have noticed M-21's tension, because he adjusted his glasses again as though to see him better and asked, "Do you have any idea why these sudden changes have occurred?"

Sighing, the wolf grit his teeth, "I was going to die and," his gaze met Raizel's then, buffered by the calm in those red eyes, he continued, "Raizel" not Alpha around others, at least not yet. "He offered me a contract. I accepted."

Blithely pretending that Frankenstein wasn't now looking at him wide-eyed and with his mouth slightly opened M-21 added, "He also told me I have a werewolf's heart."

"That is… correct," Frankenstein answered breathlessly, and M-21 was alarmed to note that rather than being angry the scientist seemed somehow sad and his scent—strong in the lab's almost complete lack of scent—seemed to confirm it after the wolf thought to check. Still, M-21 wasn't entirely sure why he felt Frankenstein was sad—it wasn't something he could pick out consciously—but he decided to go with his instincts on this.

Abruptly, the scientist turned away from both of them and headed towards the lab's entrance. "I'll just go get Tao and Takeo. Their results are through as well."

Once he was gone, M-21 immediately turned to his alpha in confusion, "What just happened?"

The Noble calmly rested his hands in his lap and looked over "What are you referring to?"

"He seemed…upset. Is there something wrong with us having a contract?"

Red eyes narrowed, "There should be no reason for him to be upset."

"Can't you tell for sure, or do your powers not work with him…?" It sounded ridiculous as he said it and even more so when Raizel responded in the negative.

"I am capable, but I grant him privacy in a way I am now unable to entirely grant you with the bond."

He paused for a moment to delicately take a cookie from the try Frankenstein had left, "His thoughts and feelings are his own. He would not appreciate an attempt to determine them."

"Ah, alright." It was possible that M-21 had been mistaken anyway, "Sorry."

"I am pleased you are worried for his happiness; there is no need for apologies."

The compliment or praise sent head to M-21's cheeks, and he internally cursed himself for having such a strong reaction to his alpha's praise. Thankfully, at that moment Frankenstein returned with the remaining members of DA-5 and M-21 had something new to focus on.

It was amusing to watch the duo regard the lab with awe—especially when they noticed the cookies available in the otherwise suspicious machine.

"How are your wounds, M-21?" Tao, ever sociable, asked with a hint of concern.

"Fine, they've already healed."

"Whoa! And after the number Shark did on you I thought you'd die at first. You're really different from the records I found." Tao exclaimed with surprise as Takeo simply said, "Impressive."

M-21 just gave a small, pleased smile and tilted his head, "I'm not surprised. I'm just called a failed experiment."

**I'm looking forward to M-21 being a little bit more confident with all of this. At the moment, he's still testing the boundaries of what this new relationship with Rai means—and by relationship I don't mean that they're going to end up together. However, now I DO have a SLASH pairing in mind. :-P If you just HAVE to know who it involves, ask in a review or pm me, but otherwise you can enjoy the anticipation and guess. :-) I also have a hetero pair that I totally ship in the series but don't know if I'll be able to include here. It all depends on how the story goes!**

**Also looking forward to how things will branch out as the series goes on. There aren't a lot of huge changes yet because I see the contract as a ripple in the pond—at first there are only small changes, but then they expand as time goes on. Enjoy!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Warnings: Potential slash in later chapters, as well as violence**

**Noblesse is not mine, I simply exert my will upon the characters.**

Chapter 5

Frankenstein clapped his hands, drawing attention abruptly back to him, "Well, I've analyzed the data from the samples you provided previously as well as the D, and I've found some problems with it."

Utterly forgotten, M-21 slipped over to stand with Raizel on the sidelines and observe silently as Tao and Takeo immediately piped up with protests about the D.

"Despite all that, my data says that it is accumulating in your bodies; considering the sudden jump in your abilities, it's no wonder that there would be side effects." Frankenstein responded sternly, adjusting his glasses to better gaze at them as though insulted they would doubt him.

Tao piped up again, "That's why we were required to wait for the after-effects to wear off before using it again. It was to ease the stress on our bodies."

"That wouldn't be enough to take care of this," Frankenstein replied bluntly, causing M-21 to again wonder at the blonde's emotional state—he was being surprisingly harsh considering how he had helped M-21 and treated him pleasantly despite not trusting him. "The limit was probably established so that your bodies wouldn't break down too quickly for data to be gathered, and it would also allow Krantz to absorb you without taking in the side effects."

"Dammit!" Takeo growled.

Tao remained silent for once, perhaps thinking of the absorption attempt Krantz had made against him.

"What are the side-effects?" Tao murmured.

"It shortens your lifespan. If you were to continue taking D as you have been then you would have felt the strain in three to four years. Your cells would have begun to rapidly break down."

It was all awful, but nothing M-21 would put past the Union. He directed his sympathetic gaze slightly away from the pair—he wouldn't have appreciated sympathy—and felt relieved again that he had asked Frankenstein to let them stay. They deserved to live their remaining time in peace, and _damn_ Frankenstein for taking his bad mood out on the two, and it might not appear that way to them but his familiarity with the blonde as well as his own gut gave him greater insight. Maybe the scientist had started being sad like M-21 thought, but the emotion had abruptly changed to some sort of simmering anger that made him want to lower himself and avert his gaze in submission.

M-21 abruptly twisted his head to glare at the blonde—homeowner or not, he wasn't about to back down with a whimper, especially when Frankenstein was being an ass to people who didn't deserve it.

"So, we have three or four years left to live, then?" Tao asked with a barely-perceptible waver in his voice as his veneer of courage began to crack.

Either Tao's fear or M-21's glare finally seemed to get through to the scientist, and he softened a bit, "No, fortunately you didn't need to use the D often, so as long as you don't use it anymore, you should be fine."

"We couldn't even if we wanted to, you've got all of what we had," Tao states with a relieved grin as Takeo visibly relaxed tense muscles.

"Good, now, I have these for you," Frankenstein said with a smile as he reached quickly retrieved a platter with two sets of pills on it. "You take them just as you would the D, but they don't have any side effects."

"What?"

"Really?"

The scientist nodded pleasantly, "Though they won't be as effective because I haven't had long to work on them. The blue ones will act like the D, though they will only be 30% as effective."

Both recipients picked them up to further examine and this time it was Takeo who spoke after a short examination, "What about the red ones?"

M-21's gaze suddenly returned to Frankenstein as the scientist smirked in a somewhat menacing fashion.

"These will have immediate results and boost your abilities by 200%."

"Incredible!" Takeo exclaimed with awe as he picked one up.

Tao, on the other hand, shrewdly asked, "What's the drawback?"

"Well, your life-force is essentially used up in a single burst of incredible power that kills you a few hours later."

The two were suddenly a great deal less eager to take the pills.

"I made them strawberry flavored, though so at least they'll taste good!" Frankenstein declared happily.

"…"

"Who—," Takeo began then paused as if uncertain about asking, "who are you? This lab is incredible, and you can do incredible things even the top scientists at the Union would have been amazed by."

M-21 turned to Frankenstein with curiosity as well. He had been wondering that much longer than Takeo.

"Not that we don't appreciate you letting us stay here," Tao added nervously. "Just curious."

"Ah," Frankenstein smirked and adjusted his glasses in what M-21 now thought was a foreboding sign. "You're curious about me?" Frankenstein asked as his aura began to spill out, and everyone but Raizel fought the urge to step back. "Whenever I look at you, I remember my past so clearly. Back then I was so full of curiosity, but there were no ready answers like there are today!"

Paying no attention to them, the blonde continued his monologue without his aura but with pacing and sweeping gestures as M-21 subtly moved closer to his alpha who was farther away from the blonde.

"Ahh, I strove for answers, and whenever I made a new discovery I also had new questions. I was so pure back then, and it was such a _romantic_ time! I sought answers to life's mysteries and was filled with such joy!"

Hugging himself, he sighed dramatically, "Oh, how long has it been since then? I was so young and innocent. Now, you can simply look something up—the romance is gone."

Stopping suddenly he turned to gaze at M-21 sternly, "M-21, are you paying attention?"

"Of course," the wolf responded with outward calm aside from the beginnings of sweat on his forehead.

Blue eyes narrowed, but the scientist looked away after a few moments. "Well, aside from that, I have some things to do before dinner, so…" Arms crossed he tilted his heard towards the door; Tao and Takeo were quick to take the hint and leave.

M-21 was as eager to leave as the other two, but he found himself hesitating. Instead of leaving, he looked back at Raizel in question and felt surprisingly relieved to see the Noble stand and move towards the exit as well.

He deliberately didn't think about what it meant that he waited for Raizel to pass him before continuing out the lab, always at least three steps behind his alpha.

As Raizel settled down to study, Tao snatched up his laptop, and Takeo walked into the kitchen for a drink, M-21 thought back to their time in Frankenstein's lab with a frown.

'Something's wrong with him, but my Alpha—whose word was somehow law and perfect unless M-21 was distanced from him—says there shouldn't be." The wolf settled back down onto the couch with puzzlement and absently retrieved _White Fang_ from the coffee table, looking down at the book as if he would somehow magically have the answers to all his questions.

'Maybe it's because it's me? He seemed to approve of me protecting the kids, but he probably doesn't see me as a good enough servant for his master.' That seemed to make sense. It wasn't like Frankenstein had ever really liked him—the scientist had allowed his presence because his master wanted it—and if M-21 compared himself to Frankenstein he could see himself falling short in every criterion. Looks, intelligence, power, money, experience— Frankenstein towered over the wolf in each of them.

'But,' M-21 suddenly realized as he absentmindedly opened the novel to where his bookmark lay, 'my power isn't as… corrosive? Menacing? That might be sort of good. Alpha's power is beyond anything I would have imagined, but it's controlled where Frankenstein's always seems to be on the brink of destroying everything it touches.'

'That can't be good,' M-21 thought as he leaned back with a frown, absently noting that his alpha appeared to be paying no attention to him—not that he could tell if the Noble _was_ listening to him—and also made a note that Takeo had gotten a glass of water and was now heading towards his room.

'Frankenstein's a Noble, but his power isn't anything like what Alpha or Regis have, so maybe there's something wrong with him or there are different types of Nobles? I could probably ask Alpha about Nobles and werewolves, but I don't think he'd like me trying to figure out what's going on with Frankenstein.'

Grey eyes flicked over to Raizel and a moment later, red eyes returned the look calmly. Startled, M-21 turned away, and he was a bit relieved that Raizel went back to his studying.

'I should just drop it,' he growled to himself as he looked down at the pages without really seeing them, 'but I can't seem to let this go. Frankenstein's upset about this, and if I knew more about him…'

'Wait, what if Frankenstein isn't a Noble? Could he have a contract with Alpha as well? It would make sense that he's upset then.' The wolf realized with wide grey eyes, 'Not so special anymore.'

His heightened hearing picked up the _**swoosh**_ of the laboratory door, and M-21 forcibly kept his head down. When the blond came into view, M-21 watched him out of the corner of his eye as though he could pick up on something new now that he was looking at the scientist from a different perspective.

All he could tell was that the scientist had apparently composed himself a bit and entered the kitchen with his usual smooth, effortless stride.

'I'll ask Alpha if he's ever had a contract before,' the grey-haired man decided as Frankenstein disappeared from his vision. 'If he has, it might be helpful to know how those worked even if ours might be different. It doesn't have to be about Frankenstein specifically, but it's a start.'

With his new resolution in mind, M-21 found it more and more difficult not to watch the clock. He would find himself reading a page or two then glancing up, and he finally had to force himself to focus on the book and wait for Frankenstein to declare that dinner was ready.

Dinner was delicious, and M-21 once again had to exercise his self-control to enjoy it. His alpha wasn't going anywhere, and it wasn't as though the Noble ate particularly quickly. When Raizel ate, it was always with a quiet, solemn dignity that added to M-21's feelings of being exceedingly out-classed—he tried not to watch the Noble now.

Once he was finished, he excused himself quietly from the table and immediately set to work washing the dishes that wouldn't fit—for one reason or another—in the dishwasher. After finishing a few pots and pans, the rest of the group still wasn't quite done—he must have rushed despite his attempts at the contrary—and he filled the time by inspecting the dishwasher and starting it. Thankfully, Takeo came in with several plates shortly after that and even offered his help. It was sincerely nice of him, and the wolf turned his head to tell the red-head so after Takeo had settled in, only to be interrupted by Frankenstein's sudden appearance.

The scientist's decision that Takeo was now assigned dish-washing with M-21 from then on had the grey silent out of a little guilt for until they were almost done.

"It isn't as bad as it could be."

Takeo didn't ask what he meant. "Yeah."

The rest of their time was spent in a semi-awkward silence, and when everything was finished, M-21 was happy for more than just one reason to be able to leave the kitchen and seek out Raizel.

The Noble must have anticipated what he wanted—or maybe heard his previous thoughts—because as soon as grey eyes met red, Raizel was standing and heading towards the game room now that Takeo had moved into their previous meeting place.

Thankfully, there was a small couch in the game room, and once Raizel was situated on it, M-21 felt surprisingly comfortable settling next to the Noble's feet—after locking the door. It would probably be easier to talk about all of this if he couldn't look his alpha in the eye, and it was nice to be able to rest his head again Raizel's thigh—something he didn't feel comfortable doing on the couch. Why this is so, M-21 forces out of his mind. It's comfortable being like this.

It's even better when those thin, elegant fingers begin to stroke his head like he had before, and M-21 felt himself relaxing and losing a burden he hadn't realized was there.

M-21 frowned, "I didn't realize I needed to be close to you again. It isn't as strong as last time, but that was after you were at school for hours and I had been asleep in a different room; we shared a bed last night and have been close to each other all of this evening."

"It is likely that you would be almost as affected today as before if we had not slept together; prolonged time next to each other helps, but the newness of this bond requires a great deal of time together." Raizel responded solemnly without stopping in his petting.

"That doesn't seem practical if this bond is usually for making servants," M-21 responded with significantly less confusion in his tone than normal—he wasn't sure if he liked having his head stroked or just enjoyed Raizel touching him so gently, but it had the effect of calming and relaxing him beyond anything he could remember; nothing seemed all that important when he and the Noble were like this.

"The type of bond depends on how the energy is exchanged. In most bonds the energy exchange is one-way and entirely controlled by the Noble." Raizel explained in his usual calm manner.

Confusion. "Then, why isn't ours like that?" Of course, it wouldn't have been too bad since Raizel was the one in control and had proven to be kind in his own way—that sort of bond was closer to what M-21 had originally been expecting—but why would Raizel have opened himself to influence by M-21? At least that was what it sounded like to the wolf.

M-21 could have sworn he smelled an unpleasant change in his alpha's scent as the Noble replied in a voice that was normal but also abnormal with some emotion M-21  
>was uncertain of, maybe sadness? "You are not a servant, and I do not believe such a bond should be used if there is another choice. As it stands I still have an<br>advantage over you as the one who created the contract, even with your approval."

'Is that regret?' M-21 was tempted to tilt his face so he could see the Noble's expression, but thought better of it. Instead he responded, "It's better than dying, and it's not like I've ever seen you hurt anyone who didn't deserve it. If someone's going to be my alpha, I can do a lot worse."

The fingers in his hair halted for a moment as if startled then thread through grey strands and continued stroking. If possible, it was better than before, and the two spent the next few minutes silently relaxing and enjoying the other's company.

When M-21's eyes begin to drift shut, he sends his thoughts out to find something to keep him awake. He remembers his questions.

"Have you ever had a contract before?"

The sleepy mood seemed to have infected Raizel as well since he paused for the barest of moments before continuing his affections. "Only one, and the circumstances were very different."

Despite being only one sentence, M-21 could tell that the Noble was reluctant to speak of it. Somehow, he couldn't find it in himself to cause the brunette distress by pursuing the matter, so he simply focused back onto the feeling of each caress through his hair.

It is thus a wonder that Raizel continues of his own will. "I will not go into details, but Frankenstein also has a kind of contract with me for reasons that are his to divulge or not."

"He's human, then?" M-21 asks with surprise despite the soporific effect of Raizel's fingers.

"Yes, and our contract was formed several centuries ago."

That seemed to be the end of that, and M-21 eventually forced himself to move as he felt himself in serious danger of falling asleep right there on the floor with his head almost in his alpha's lap.

"Looks like I should be getting to sleep, especially with going back to work tomorrow," the wolf explained.

Red eyes regarded him for a moment until Raizel, too, stood. "I will join you again tonight if that is suitable. It should ease the strain for tomorrow."

M-21 wanted to say that the Noble didn't have to, that he didn't want to be a burden, but in truth it wouldn't be feasible for M-21 to be as anxious as he was that first day after waking up while still doing his job efficiently.

"Thank you." He murmurs with embarrassment.

"It is nothing that requires thanks," the Noble returned as he walked over to the door, unlocked it, and proceeded through with M-21 close behind.

**The beginnings of a back story for Frankenstein! Hope you all enjoyed. I was tempted to continue past this, but it's been a while since I updated, so I figured this was still a good point to stop at. The next chapter shouldn't take nearly as long as this one did considering I already have quite a bit in mind to write for it. A girl can hope!**

**Also, I want to improve as a writer, and to that end I'm really interested in doing some small drabbles in addition to the one-shots I'm working on and this series. So, if anyone has any prompts or ideas they would like to see, let me know! Especially anything that would fit with the M-series tribute I'm doing. **


	6. Chapter 6

**Warnings: Potential slash in later chapters, as well as violence**

**Noblesse is not mine, I simply exert my will upon the characters.**

**Some of you might like to know that I have now started a Takeo/M-21 oneshot (I really think fanfiction should have a smut genre option, by the way) which should please some of the people out there who, like me, love those two. That said, enjoy the latest chapter!**

When the two returned to the living room—Raizel because his room was on the far side of the house and he needed his pajamas, and M-21 because he wanted to grab his book—the grey-haired man was almost immediately intercepted by Takeo and Tao, the latter of which promptly proceeded to lead him out to the house's balcony.

The wolf could have sworn red eyes watched them go with amusement in their depths.

Tao was the first to speak. "So, the homeowner said we'd be working with you starting tomorrow."

Any thought of red eyes vanished as M-21 suddenly gave Tao his complete attention at the new information. Frankenstein hadn't said a word to him, which was strange, though maybe that was because he and Raizel had left so soon after dinner?

M-21 waited patiently for Tao to continue.

Tao took his silence in stride. "We were wondering if you could give us an idea of what we'll be doing since you're our senior!"

The wolf blinked. "Frankenstein didn't tell you anything?" Odd, M-21 had received a whole packet about his new career—not that he had read the whole thing.

"He gave both of us a packet of papers, but we thought you could give us an idea of what usually goes on instead of just what our duties are." Takeo interjected in his usual calm, even tone.

"It'll be pretty easy compared to what you're used to," M-21 started a bit hesitantly—this wasn't awkward at _all._ "There usually isn't too much to really do and I just patrol the school. Sometimes you'll find a student being bullied or doing something they shouldn't, and then you just use common sense to take care of the situation."

Takeo simply nodded and seemed to contemplate what it would be like, but Tao pouted. "Come on, you must have had something interesting happen!"

M-21 shrugged, "The worst that's ever happened was I had to make some celebrity move their van, and that was just once." Really, the story was a bit more involved than that as any of the kids could probably attest, but he was starting to understand why Takeo was so quiet. Tao was… chatty.

"Well, just about anything's better than the Union," the hacker grinned in response, "though it sounds like we're a bit over-qualified."

"What about practice," Takeo suddenly interrupted with a frown. "We won't have to use any of our skills, but if the Union finds us, we'll need to be in good shape."

M-21 hesitated before inwardly scolding himself—it wasn't really _his_ area, just somewhere Frankenstein _allowed_ him to practice—and speaking again. "I go to a place," he couldn't decide whether to call it a gym or deserted warehouse, "Frankenstein has which has plenty of room for me to practice. I can probably take you there after school tomorrow."

'I can probably be away from Alpha for that long, especially since I'll be closer to him tomorrow.'

"Good," Takeo replied with a small smile.

"Sounds fun!" Tao chimed in more energetically.

"Also," Takeo piped up with some hesitation, "is it true that your being here has nothing to do with Crombel?"

M-21 simply nodded.

Tao practically cackled with glee, "So, the whole time you were tricking all of us so that you could get the information you wanted? I would've loved to see Shark's face if he had found out!"

In contrast, his red-headed compatriot looked a little alarmed at the reminder of how they had first known M-21, and he looked at the grey man with a hint of sheepishness and regret which M-21 chose to over-look with a small smirk.

"I did have information about Crombel, though. Actually, I was really surprised that you didn't know that I had deserted the Union—I would have thought Crombel would tell everyone."

"It is strange," Takeo murmured as Tao continued to chortle in the background, "He knew you weren't a Union agent anymore, but he said that you were on an assignment for him… It's like he was protecting you."

An alarming thought; and M-21 furrowed his brows in confusion, "I don't know why he would do that, though. He didn't insult us all the time and he allowed us to choose whether or not to participate in an experiment they were doing here, but I don't think he actually liked us."

"So," Tao suddenly interrupted, startling both M-21 and Takeo with his abrupt entrance, "he must not want the Union going after you like they usually do for agents who desert."

All three of them suddenly fell into silence. Crombel not wanting other agents to pursue M-21 could only mean that he had some plan in mind that involved the former experiment.

"Maybe you should tell us about the incident we were sent here to investigate, or at least what you know." Takeo finally muttered after a long pause—only barely beating Tao who appeared put out that he hadn't gotten to speak.

M-21 couldn't stop the flinch that passed across his face, and his anxiety about sharing what he had done was only compounded by how Takeo and Tao looked at him with curiosity bordering on suspicion.

Sighing, he turned away from them and considered how much he could tell them. His uncertainty coaxed him to subtly breathe in through his nose and analyze their scents. Neither of them currently smelled dangerous, but there was an undercurrent that told him they were also confused.

Thinking quickly, he decided that he had a few options. He could tell them the bare facts—glossing over the children ever being involved—or he could tell them everything to make sure he didn't pass over anything that might say why Crombel would want him alive.

That he could choose to tell them nothing was also an option, but that would solve nothing and he didn't want to stay in the dark about what Crombel might be doing because he was ashamed.

Showing that he didn't trust Tao and Takeo at all was also inaccurate—already his senses and experiences had told him that they were different from what he had heard with the Union. Takeo had apparently tried to help people, and Tao was genuinely friendly when in a more normal environment.

And what right did he have to cover up the things he had done? He didn't think he had been evil before, but he had definitely been angry, bitter, and ready to lash out at people who didn't deserve it.

At children who didn't deserve it.

He needed to take responsibility for his actions.

Sighing, he looked back at them and squared his shoulders, ready to tell them everything. Cutting off Tao before he could voice whatever he was about to say, he began with why he and M-24 were originally sent to the city.

The description of how they had tracked one of the thieves down and killed then enslaved him didn't cause much of a reaction except for some interest in M-24's mind control. Tao, annoyingly, interjected with a few questions on the subject, which M-21 tried to answer as succinctly and calmly as possible so he could continue without biting Tao's head off.

From there, he quickly found himself at the first time he had met the kids—when M-24's mutant had tried to eat Yuna—during which he averted his eyes from their faces and instead used his nose to judge their reactions.

They still weren't aggressive or angry, but there was an unpleasant undertone that he was sure would appear several times over the course of the story.

When they got to the part where the pair had allowed M-24 to fight Shinwoo again, he could sense their disapproval but simply kept going. He pushed through the whole event and forced himself not to try and give excuses—_he hadn't meant for the kids to get hurt, they hadn't been in danger_—because in the end it had all been for their amusement.

Takeo did seem surprised that M-21 had fought Frankenstein and gotten away with as few injuries as he did, and Tao seemed much more surprised to find that M-24 had fought Raizel and lived.

From there, the story was increasingly difficult as he told them about what happened at the hospital—something they needed to know in order to understand why Seira and Regis were here—and how the children had become involved _again_.

Speaking of M-24's decision to protect the children despite how weak he was compared to Jake was both harder and easier than the rest of the story had been. Looking back at it, he was incredibly proud of M-24. The older experiment had the courage to stand up for what he felt was right and a compassion for others, or at least children, despite what had been done to them that made M-21 admire him more than anyone he could think of.

'Takeo's a little like him,' he suddenly thought to himself.

'He's an experiment like we were, though he was actually considered strong, and he chose to help people as much as he could instead of acting like Jake… or me.'

The thought causes him to look cautiously at the redhead, and Takeo's expression of genuine sympathy at his loss only makes him more certain of the truth. Takeo and M-24 would have been absolute opposites on the outside, but he felt they had the same heart.

It's a heady thought and he suddenly returned to looking vaguely into the distance rather than at either of his—attentive and silent—listeners. At first after the pause his thoughts had caused, his throat didn't work quite right, so he cleared it quickly and continued on, moving swiftly from Jake and Mary to the lab and what Crombel had done.

"So, Crombel set it up so that only he would know about the project since it was successful?" Tao asked before M-21 could continue further into the story of the lab and the mutant.

"Apparently. The experiment seemed to work on Jake and the mutant M-24 made, though I don't think they knew much about possible side effects yet."

"I wonder if he's done that before," Tao mused.

"Can you find out?" Takeo asked the genius curiously.

"I'll have to hack into the Union's databases, and I don't know how much encryption I'll have to go through to find all the information," Tao replied with a look that said he was in deep thought. After a moment, he seemed to come out of it and looked at M-21 seriously. "You're sure he didn't know about the powers you and M-24 developed?"

The question wasn't what M-21 had been expecting, and he answered as best he could, "As sure as I can be, we hadn't been examined in a while, and if anyone had known we would have been dragged in for more tests right away. We also were very careful about where and when we used our powers"

Tao leaned in then as though about to impart some great piece of wisdom upon both of them, "Then why were your files deleted?"

The failed experiment felt gratified when Takeo also looked at the hacker with confusion.

Leaning back, Tao grinned—though it was not nearly as enthusiastic as his usual one and hinted at something darker, "He destroyed the facility that had information on a successful experiment so he'd have it to himself, and he also made sure no one could see your files even though scientists seem to like having secure back-ups notes on their experiments. Maybe he didn't think you were a failed experiment."

"What?" M-21 whispered to himself in shock. "But he couldn't have known; we were careful!"

"Is this bad?" Takeo asked with a mix of confusion and worry.

"It would explain why he wants M-21 alive," Tao said with a grim smile, "he'd want to know what he missed."

"So, you think he's just keeping the Union away from me until he can grab me and drag me back," M-21 summed up emotionlessly.

Tao's smile faded out of existence and he looked away awkwardly. Takeo, though, stepped closer and tentatively touched M-21's shoulder. "I know we don't know each other very well, but I would be willing to help keep that from happening."

The hacker seemed to take courage from that and his usual smile began to appear again, "Yeah! Besides, we owe you for helping us out before."

"You don't have to, and we don't know that it's true anyway," M-21 replied, though he couldn't seem to stop the small warmth that their support gave him—even if it was only because he had helped them.

Not sure if he could handle anything more on that subject, the grey man spoke of the mutant and how the experiment had changed him in detail but glossed over his own change by only saying, "Raizel boosted my power long enough for me to kill it."

From there, the story was fairly easy, and there was a thoughtful hum from Tao at the reason for Regis and Seira's appearance.

"And the rest you know," he finished.

"A lot has happened here," Takeo murmured, and Tao quickly laughed his assent. "Yeah! For such a small place, it's seen a lot of action!"

Not certain he wanted to hear the answer, M-21 asked, "Do you have any more questions?"

The hacker shrugged, "A lot, but I'll figure it out as I go along. That's half the fun!"

Takeo was a different story. "They took you in because your partner helped them, but it's different with us. Why are they letting us stay? How can we trust them?"

Big questions, especially when M-21 didn't really understand the answers that came to him. "I asked M-24 the same thing, and he said that at least they're at least better than the Union that wanted to throw us away."

He paused to gather his thoughts then continued, "Frankenstein will let you stay if that's what will please Raizel," best to leave off the honorific to avoid awkward questions, "and all I can say is that Raizel is…"

_AlphaMinePowerComfort_

_Slim fingers carding through grey locks like family—caregiver, protector_

_Red eyes that see everything that's wrong and try to make it better_

"Kind. Even when you don't think you deserve it." And M-21 didn't think he had deserved to be taken care of after what he had been part of, had done, and yet Raizel and Frankenstein had gone far beyond anything he would have expected.

Thankfully, that seemed to be enough for them, or they sensed his introspective mood, and the three ended up at the balcony looking out at the city.

Eventually the lack of light caught the wolf's attention, and M-21 felt a moment of panic at how late it had—especially since Raizel might be expecting him soon. "Ah, it's gotten pretty late." Hopefully, if he hinted at the time, they'd pick up the cue and separate so he could go to his room and wait for Alpha.

And finish his book.

"Whooo," Tao whistled as he took note of the sky, "it sure has, and we still need to read the guide the boss gave us!"

Takeo nodded at Tao then M-21, "We will see you in the morning?"

At M-21's answering nod the three headed back inside and quickly went their separate ways.

When M-21 entered the room, Raizel was sitting with his lower half nestled comfortable under the covers of the bed and studying.

As red eyes looked to him and acknowledged his presence with a nod, M-21 couldn't push that question back where it belonged, in the back of his mind.

'Why did he take me in?'

Looking at his Alpha, he couldn't voice the question. What did it matter now, after all, when the Noble had done so much, _become_ so much for him? And who was to say that he'd like the answer? Maybe it was pity or he had turned out to be not quite so annoying when he contributed to keeping the house clean and the school's security.

M-21 was torn from his thoughts as he saw his alpha lower his book and look at him pointedly. Blushing at how he had stopped in the doorway like some sort of moron, M-21 began to pull his shirt off as he headed to the dresser.

A moment later he found himself hesitating over whether it was appropriate to get undressed in front of the Noble then decided he was being ridiculous and they were both _male_, so _of course _it wasn't a big deal.

He ended up grabbing his bottoms and changing in the bathroom while keeping an eye out for anyone who might be about and wonder why he wasn't changing in his room.

Once he finished brushing his teeth—with a side journey into the living room for his book—and was prepared for bed, he cautiously made his way back to his room. It was somehow unsurprising to notice that the Noble was still studying as though he had never moved.

After he put his clothes away and had his book ready, he carefully settled into the other side of the bed—trying not to so much as jostle the Noble.

"Do you want me to turn the lights out so you can go to sleep?" He offered after a moment.

"I am fine."

"Ah, okay." The experiment murmured as he gingerly got himself comfortable and opened up his book.

Hopefully, as time passed they'd develop some sort of routine, but for right now it was like two strangers sleeping next to each other—and one of them was incredibly hard to figure out.

This wasn't awkward at _all_.

**Yes, the whole thing with Dr Arith is still going to happen, though obviously it will be slightly different. My idea is that Frankenstein retreats to his lab when he is upset, thus no late-night shopping for him for a bit if he can avoid it. :-D Heck, it might not even be Frankenstein who is taken (and you know someone would be considering she wanted a souvenir). ;-) Hope you enjoyed!**

**Also, thanks so much for the reviews! Sometimes I get inspired by them and write or figure out something I want to do in the story, which makes them very useful! **


	7. Chapter 7

**What if M-21 entered into a contract with Raizel?**

**(M-21's wounds are worse than originally in the story)**

**Warnings: Potential slash in later chapters, as well as violence**

**Noblesse is not mine, I simply exert my will upon the characters.**

It was a relief when M-21 woke to find that he could fall back on the last morning he had with Alpha as a blueprint for his behavior.

After carefully sliding out of bed again, he grabbed his uniform for the day and decided he had time to take his shower before awakening the Noble.

Once he was standing under the cascading water, he let out a sigh of relief. With everything that had been going on lately, it was good to just stand silently under the hot water and let the warmth relax him.

Still, he couldn't afford to spend too much time relaxing when he needed to wake Alpha soon, so he rushed through getting dressed and headed back to his room while still working on towel-drying his hair.

Seeing the Noble still so peacefully asleep, on his back with his head tilted to the side and away from the door, M-21 felt himself relax again after his rush to get ready. He allowed his towel to simply settle on his shoulders as he walked over to the other side of the bed and leaned over the Noble.

A drop of water splashed down onto the Noble's face.

M-21 jerked back a step, a mix of healthy paranoia and fear making the wolf look around for Frankenstein's sinister aura flaring at the insult of his master being dripped on. When the blond failed to appear and Raizel continued to sleep, M-21 relaxed and stepped closer again.

"Raizel-nim." A pause. "Raizel-nim, it's time to wake up."

'He's really a sound sleeper.'

Another moment and he tentatively reached out a hand and nudged the Noble's shoulder, "Raizel-nim."

The first flutter of eyelashes had him releasing his alpha, and he quickly moved back to observe without crowding the Noble.

Red eyes slowly opened, and there was only a flicker of confusion at waking up in M-21's room before the brunette was sitting up and gracefully sliding out of the bed.

It was too awkward to just stand there drying his hair as the Noble left, so M-21 followed him out into the living room where he could faintly hear Frankenstein and their two new additions moving around.

The moment the Noble entered the room, the scientist turned away from where he had been evaluating Takeo and Tao's uniforms—probably making sure they had everything 'just so'—and hesitated in his greeting as his eyes flicked to M-21 then back to his master.

The scientist's usual smile immediately made an appearance afterwards, but the hesitation still confirmed to the wolf that Frankenstein was upset that the two were together. "Good morning, Master."

The Noble simply nodded in reply and headed over to his room—M-21 had never gone near it, but he imagined it was much nicer than his own simply on principle—while M-21 focused his attention on his fellow experiments and not on the scientist he was sure wanted to cut him open.

"You both must have gotten up early," he comments in an attempt to tear his focus from imagining gruesome ways Frankenstein could kill him.

"We wanted to be sure we were ready for our first day," Takeo answered as Tao nodded and began to type away on something with his little hand-held laptop.

M-21 accepted the explanation with a nod. He had done much the same on his first day.

Looking down at the damp towel still on his shoulders, he quickly turned and left the room, "I'll be leaving in about half an hour, but you two can go ahead if you want."

After tidying his hair a bit and discarding the towel, he quickly wandered back towards the living room, expecting Frankenstein to be in the kitchen making something for Raizel as the Noble in question drank a morning cup of tea.

He was mostly correct.

Frankenstein and Alpha were certainly where he had expected them to be, but the newcomers were currently engaged in eating breakfast—a bowl of some cereal he could practically taste the sweetness of that one of the kids must have brought over for some reason sat in front of Tao, and Takeo was displaying markedly better taste with re-heated leftovers from last night's dinner.

M-21 paused for a moment at the sight only to have Tao catch him staring and look up with a grin. "We thought we'd wait for you since you're the one who knows where everything is! Ah, and good morning!"

Takeo also looked up long enough to meet M-21's surprised gaze, "Good morning."

"Ah. Morning," M-21 said in turn. It was so…normal, yet neither of these two seemed to have any difficulties with it.

Deciding not to dwell on it, M-21 headed to the fridge, carefully staying out of Frankenstein's way, and was relieved to find enough of last night's dinner to probably feed two normal people. He took all of it, though with some guilt. He was just so _hungry_ lately, and he only hoped no one noticed how much more he was eating now—gluttony wasn't the worst thing to be accused of, but it would still be embarrassing.

Right on cue, Frankenstein decided to speak, "You've been eating more ever since…your injuries healed."

Maybe that was Frankenstein's preferred alternative to, 'Since you formed a contract with my master, you waste of space.'

Stiffening, M-21 responded quietly, "I've been hungrier lately."

"Hmm," Frankenstein murmured without missing a beat at the stove where he was making some sort of omelet, "your metabolism must be going up now that your powers are becoming stronger." And as he says it, M-21 can almost taste the unhappiness in the man's scent. It seemed any reminder of the contract was unwelcome.

"That would make sense I guess." He murmured quietly. All he could think of now was how much he needed to get out of this kitchen—no reason to tempt Frankenstein into harming his person if he could help it.

"I'll make a packet of what you should eat to cope with it—some foods will do more to fill you than others," the blond continued, though with an air of distraction now as though he was already working on the problem.

Surprised, M-21 nodded then realized the scientist couldn't see him and instead vocalized his thanks to which Frankenstein hummed in acknowledgement. As he left the kitchen with his plate, he began to second-guess everything he thought he knew about how Frankenstein felt about the contract.

'Maybe he's getting used to it?' The wolf thought as Takeo drank a cup of tea and Tao typed away on his hand-held computer, 'Or maybe he's just so dedicated to Alpha that he's working past it?'

After more thought and analysis, M-21 finished his breakfast and decided that it was probably a mixture of the two that had the scientist acting a bit more like he used to.

* * *

><p>Walking to work with Tao and Takeo made him twitchy. It had taken time to get used to the children—who only really walked with him after school when they were going to the house—and he still wasn't used to having the two who used to be enemies around him. With one on each side, he felt for the first half of the walk like he was being escorted back to the Union.<p>

Whenever either of the two came close to brushing against him, he had the irrational yet almost overwhelming urge to bare his teeth like a wild animal. Even Takeo who had actually been somewhat kind to him while he was with DA-5 wasn't an exception—aside from the fact that M-21 figured he'd go after Tao first.

It didn't help that Tao was either whistling or chatting the entire time they walked.

Thus, reaching the school was a relief, even if the grounds were bare of just about everyone else—they had come early so M-21 could first show his new co-workers around the school then to the small room set aside for them.

Tao continued to chatter, and Takeo occasionally asked questions. Between Tao's constant and seemingly endless good humor and Takeo's quiet and, surprisingly, not unwelcome presence, M-21 slowly began to adjust. Of course, whenever Tao started to talk in that over-enthusiastic way of his, the wolf felt like biting him.

As it came closer to when the students would be arriving, they collectively migrated to the front of the school and only had to wait a few minutes—during which a small crowd of students strangely began to surround them—for Shinwoo and the rest to show up.

"Ahjussi!" Shinwoo's dulcet tones belted out.

"Tao-hyung, Takeo-hyung!" Ikhan added with a waving hand.

Tao happily waved back—was there anything he didn't look happy while doing?

Once the group had reached them, the crowd thinned out to watch from afar, and M-21 was confused at how much giggling and whispering was going on—especially from the girls.

"Are you working here from now on, Hyung?" Ikhan asked excitedly.

"Yep! We've got the uniforms and everything, plus we got Ahjussi here to give us the grand tour!"

"Cool!" Shinwoo cut in with a laugh.

Yuna smiled tentatively before suddenly looking at her phone then stuffing it into her bag, "We need to get going, class will start soon!"

That said, Shinwoo looked a bit panicked, "Ack, Pedro hates when I'm late! Bye!"

Less than a minute later, M-21 was once again alone with Tao and Takeo, but after the way the children treated them, it felt far less intrusive. "We should start patrolling. Do you two have any more questions?"

"Mmm, nope!"

"No, thank you."

And so the morning went on feeling like most other mornings with M-21 and Takeo doing most of the patrolling after Tao rushed off to set up some monitors in the security room—after asking for permission from Frankenstein, of course.

And, of course, because it was M-21 and Takeo doing the patrolling, patrol passed quietly.

Lunch, however, was a different story.

* * *

><p>When M-21 headed inside to grab lunch for both of them—Takeo was up on the roof keeping watch—he was confronted by an exuberant Tao carrying a large bag. From what M-21's nose told him, the bag was full of a variety of foods—too many for him to pick apart without a great deal of concentration—and the wolf followed the hacker up to the roof to join Takeo.<p>

Upon noticing them, Takeo turned towards them and raised his eyebrows skeptically to which M-21 gave him a shrug.

"I've got alarms set up for if anyone breaches the school's perimeter, and the cameras are up, too, so we can relax for a bit." Tao stated with a grin as he carefully set down his bag and spread out a large travel blanket.

Even Takeo seemed shocked as the hacker revealed a liter of soda that—when poured into the fluted glasses—was colorless like some alcohols. The wolf and sniper stood in shocked silence as Tao continued to unload his bag and reveal various sandwiches, sushi, various sides, and then a variety of sweets.

"Where did you get all of this?" M-21 asked as he looked at the lay-out in wonder. There was enough room for each of them to sit on the blanket still, but only barely.

"I always have some money on hand, so I popped into different places before coming back with the camera equipment." Tao grinned self-importantly as though incredibly smug at their surprise.

"You always have been resourceful," Takeo murmured as he sat down.

Tao suddenly plopped down as well, and wouldn't stop looking at M-21 until the scarred man eventually settled himself gracefully onto the remaining free space.

He shouldn't have been surprised when the hacker suddenly thrust a glass at him—and Takeo—and led them in a quick toast.

Though he was nervous to start, M-21 quickly discerned that the scent coming from one of the rolls was beef in some sort of zesty and sweet sauce. He had never seen such a dish, but after taking a bite he found himself quite enjoying it.

Overall, the meal ended up being quite interesting, and he was allowed to sit in silence as Tao blathered on about the types of foods, where the new cameras were, and a variety of other things that M-21 ended up tuning out.

As lunch came to its' end, both of his fellows leaned back—Tao exaggerated the movement—and it was Takeo who asked about the gym again.

"After all of this food, I definitely want to look at that gym you told us about, M-21."

Smirking slightly, M-21 nodded. "Like I said, we can go after work." He paused for a moment before adding, "Though I doubt we'll be having a meal like this every day."

Tao preened at the comment.

* * *

><p>"Mmmm!" Tao stood on his tip-toes to stretch himself as much as possible. "Not much to do, but it's nice to do a good day's work."<p>

Aside from the impromptu banquet the three had on the roof, the entire day had gone smoothly, and an hour after classes had ended they were on their way to the warehouse.

Of course, this time M-21 knew enough to position them so that Takeo was between himself and the hacker—which put the red-head at Tao's chattering mercy, but they had been teammates. He had to be used to it, right? Besides, it was every man for himself.

Fortunately for Takeo, it didn't take too long to get to the warehouse considering Frankenstein had probably picked it for its nearness to the school. Actually, M-21 thought, based on the look of the interior, Frankenstein had occasionally used it for practicing with his own powers rather than for storage purposes—the scientist could certainly afford it.

As M-21 approached the cleverly concealed palm scanner, he could hear Tao's chatter heighten in pitch, which culminated in an 'ooooooh,' and various questions that M-21 chose to ignore as the scanner did its work.

Identity confirmed, the heavy door slid open, and the experiments were treated to the sight of reinforced concrete flooring that was looking a bit worn and thick steel walls sporting the occasional dent or claw mark. Off to the side protected by another wall separating it from the main area were a variety of exercise machines that M-21 knew could be modified for abilities beyond that of normal humans. Within this sectioned-off area was also a small locker room that with a shower, toilet, and a closet full of hangars—it figured that Frankenstein would have that instead of folding his nice clothes.

Behind him, M-21 could hear Tao whistle in surprise. "Woooow, there's some nice equipment in here."

Takeo just went to inspect the weight machine with obvious interest, which left M-21 stuck standing awkwardly next to Tao. For something to do, he entered the locker room and began changing into the white tank and grey sweat pants he left there.

As he was pulling on his shirt, Takeo joined him and M-21 pointed to several extra sets of work-out clothes over on a shelf. "You can use those for now, though you'll probably want to get your own because of the fit." Then, as Tao entered the room as well, M-21 left and headed for the weight machine.

When Tao and Takeo emerged, M-21 couldn't hold back an amused smirk, which Takeo responded to by tugging at the clothes as though he could somehow make them fit better if he kept adjusting them. Tao just grinned. Of the two, Tao was probably better off though the shirt was a bit large on him. Takeo, on the other hand, kept pulling his pants down then up as the pants fell to his lower calf rather than tugging comfortably right above his ankle.

Eventually, M-21 couldn't hold in an amused snort which earned him a rather pouty glare from Takeo that only served to increase the wolf's amusement and make Tao snicker.

Keeping his eyes off both of them, Takeo stalked over to the chin-up bar. Fighting to return his lips to a neutral expression, M-21 continued his reps as Tao trotted merrily over to the tread mill.

* * *

><p>The first half an hour was almost enjoyable. It didn't take long to adjust to having Takeo working alongside him, and even Tao settled to a fairly non-disturbing hum after a little while, but as time passed an urge began to bubble in M-21 that he was slowly becoming familiar with.<p>

He had gone shopping while Alpha was away at the school while being on sick leave and that had been a longer separation than now. So, why was he beginning to wish he was back at the house already? The house where Alpha would be waiting and quietly drinking tea…

Clenching his jaw, M-21 continued his reps with greater vigor and concentration, determined to focus only on the movement of his body and not his desire to be back close to Alpha.

He lasted a total of an hour and a half before silently heading for the showers. He started the water on warm, and then switched it to cold as quickly as he could in an effort to tear his focus away from his alpha.

It worked a bit, and when Tao and Takeo joined him in the locker room—Tao chattering away—he focused on Tao's voice and Takeo's quiet murmurs in response to hold off the un-yielding desire to be back with his alpha.

* * *

><p>Takeo was quickly becoming his favorite of the two newcomers. The red-head not only was fine with walking in silence, but M-21 could see him making a conscious effort to keep Tao from bothering the wolf. His gut twisted, and it took much more concentration than it should to keep himself from running back to the house. Walking through the door was a relief, but it felt like his entire body settled as he laid eyes on his alpha.<p>

Raizel was in the living room drinking tea as usual, but seemed to quickly understand what M-21 needed considering he stood up and headed into the hallway once the two had locked eyes. Relieved, M-21 nodded to Tao and Takeo before departing in the same direction with forced casualness.

As soon as he was out of sight, the wolf picked up speed, rapidly following the Noble's scent without thinking about it. The trail led to M-21's room, and M-21 took a moment to compose himself before carefully entering the room and closing the door behind him.

Raizel was sitting on the side of the bed, back straight and watching M-21 with an implacable calm in his ruby eyes. Eager for contact, M-21 dropped to the ground next to the Noble's feet and closed his eyes as his head naturally leant against the grey-clad thigh.

The moment they touched, he could feel the annoying itch in his mind _shouldbewithAlpha _flee in the wake of a bone-deep relaxation that made the wolf give a soft moan of contentment. It only got better as long fingers began carding through his hair, and M-21 released a soft sigh.

The silence continued for a few more minutes before M-21 broke it with a sleepy question—he never would have asked anything if he had been his usual self.

"What is school like?" Every time Shinwoo groaned about 'homework,' or Pedro, or math, M-21 wondered what the truth was and what was exaggeration. School seemed to be an experience everyone—even those shows the kids occasionally watched—took for granted as something everyone experienced.

Half the time M-21 had sat with the kids to watch an episode, he had found himself alternatively confused and shocked at how teenagers were said to act—and at the problems they found overwhelming.

Really, there was so much emphasis on dating that M-21 wondered how they managed to have time for school work at all. M-21 couldn't remember dating, and he had no desire _to_ date. The whole thing looked like a never-ending horror of decisions.

"It is strange," Alpha murmured, and M-21 came back to the moment and away from his increasingly confused thoughts with those simple words. "There are various subjects and the one called math is exceedingly strange."

"Math?" the wolf repeated in a murmur. Louder, he replied, "Shinwoo complains about it a lot, and I've heard the rest talk about how hard it is—except for Ikhan."

Raizel nodded solemnly, "It is a confusing subject. Even Frankenstein was unsure of how to explain it."

"Hmmm," M-21 hummed thoughtfully. "And are those shows on tv telling the truth about dating and bullying at schools? I've never really been inside, so…"

"I have not noticed it," Raizel stated with a furrowed brow as though unsure of his answer.

"That's probably good," M-21 sighed. "Those shows make high school look horrible—something worth forgetting," the wolf added with a self-deprecating smirk.

The Noble remained silent this time, and M-21 decided to stay quiet since he'd evidently put his foot in his mouth. Sighing, he closed his eyes, but when he next breathed in, there was something extra in the Noble's scent that made the wolf open his eyes abruptly.

Even with how much stronger he had grown since the contract began, M-21 hadn't been able to apply that strength to Raizel. The Noble had his own scent just as all the others, but even though M-21 could sense Frankenstein's moods, the brunette had been the source of a constant, unchanging scent.

But now…Now, the Noble's scent had an undercurrent the wolf could barely read because there was so much _there_, and it all flowed together like so many ingredients tossed together into the same pot of strong, distracting broth.

Entranced, the wolf breathed in deeply through his nose, and focused on the strongest scent after the 'base.'

M-21 tensed, feeling entirely out of his depth.

The Noble was _sad_. _Why_ was he sad? Had M-21 done something?

"I am fine," that soft, smooth voice interrupted with only the slightest hint of emotion—a hint he wouldn't have caught only days ago, "there is no need for you to worry."

And just like that, the grey felt himself relax into the Noble's strokes once more.

"Sorry," he muttered feeling like he had just been caught peeping at the forbidden.

"There is no need for apology; with this the bond will become more equitable."

M-21 frowned before suddenly remembering something else Alpha had said.

"_You may become more attuned with my state of mind, but that will not be until the bond has settled."_

"Wait, so this means the bond is…settling?"

"It is a good sign."

"So, I'm going to be getting better at reading you?" M-21 asked guiltily.

"Yes," the Noble replied, though there was a gentle chiding to his tone now, "and I do not mind—it is only fair considering my own abilities."

'He sounds relieved,' the wolf thought as he closed his eyes again, 'was he feeling guilty that he was reading me? What was it he said, that he couldn't give me privacy anymore?'

Before he dropped into a light doze, M-21 took all those little things he had noticed about the Noble and finally pieced them together in a realization that he accidentally murmured aloud.

"You're a really good person, aren't you?"

* * *

><p>The two sat there as time seemed to stand still with M-21's head resting in the Noble's lap and Raizel's left hand tangled in grey until a gentle knock sounded at the door. Roused by the sound, M-21 shifted upwards with his right arm curved around his alpha's back and his left on the Noble's knees to ensure continued contact as he lifted his head.<p>

M-21 blinked sleepily as he eyed the door for a moment, and then took a sniff of the air. "It's Frankenstein," he murmured as the scent of soap and the lab slowly wafted to him. It took a long moment after saying that for M-21 to remember that Frankenstein probably _wouldn't_ be okay with seeing his master with a failed experiment in his lap.

He almost jumped to his feet at the thought, and a moment later he was across the room and opening the door for Frankenstein who proceeded to give him a polite smile that made M-21's stomach clench. In response, the wolf opened the door further and stepped aside to allow the scientist to see Alpha.

"Ah, Master, dinner is ready." Frankenstein announced with a far less sinister smile—M-21 knew he hadn't been imaging the scientist's annoyance! And then the words sunk in, and M-21 looked at the alarm clock on the far side of the bed with shock.

'It's that late already?' The wolf thought with no little surprise. They had to have been sitting in here for an hour, yet…yet he felt like they hadn't had long enough. 'Oh, I fell asleep, didn't I?' The grey realized with a start.

He could remember everything else, but it was almost laughable that he had fallen asleep—he didn't like being so vulnerable in front of anyone.

Focusing his attention back on the elder duo, M-21 stepped to the side to allow both to exit the room before him as they all acted as if nothing had happened—as if M-21 wasn't becoming something new, something he didn't understand.

**Sorry this took so long—my only excuse is that I was stuck on this one part that just would NOT cooperate.**

**As always, reviews are welcomed. :-)**

**Also, about the locker room—chalk most of this up to Frankenstein being Frankenstein and thus over-prepared and willing to spend plenty on what he is actually going to use. Or that Raizel is going to use. -_-**


End file.
